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"We believe we should return the Earth in better condition than we found it.”

– Clif McKenzie, Watson CEO

PRACTICAL ENVIRONMENTALISM

Environmental ethics permeate all facets of our business, from our own facilities, processes and practices to the products we deliver. Watson components are manufactured using recycled and recyclable materials and can help customers meet environmental standards in their own buildings.

An additional element of sustainable product design stems from the inherent durability and flexibility of our furniture. We build adjustable furniture that lasts, which prolongs its life cycle, facilitates re-use, and conserves the resources required to replace it.

Sustainable
Materials

Watson is committed to “doing good” rather than simply “feeling good.” At the core of this philosophy, is finding practical and economical solutions to sourcing recycled materials and manufacturing sustainable products.

Wood

Steel

Textiles

Laminate

Adhesive

Edge Banding

Wood

The substrate used in all desk and storage is 92% recycled industrial by-product from Northwest milling operations.

Prominent Supplier Location:
Eugene, OR

92%

Steel

The cold-rolled steel used in table bases and brackets is created from recycled auto parts. All of our steel is 100% recyclable.

Laminate

Adhesive

Watson uses only nontoxic, water-based adhesives that emit low to no VOCs.

92%

Edge Banding

Nearly all Watson edgebanding is made from the safe, non-toxic and environmentally friendly Poly-propylene.

Prominent Supplier Location:
Quebec, Canada

92%

Sustainable
Processes

In all areas of our factory we have worked to design out hazardous and non-sustainable materials and processes.

Wood Efficiencies

We use 95% recycled particleboard. In addition, our CNC routing and cutting equipment minimizes fall down material using advanced nesting algorithms. All dust and unused wood shavings are re-purposed as biomass fuel.

Metal Processing

Our no discharge steam cleaning process uses water that is reclaimed, filtered and reused. Standard metal components are finished using an electrostatic powdercoat baking process that emits no VOCs.

Reusable Packaging

Products are protected during shipping with reusable blanket wrapping. Where further protection is required, 100% recyclable honeycomb cardboard is used instead of foam.

Sawdust Reclamation

Every year 350,000 lbs of Watson sawdust is diverted from landfills and compressed into briquettes for fuel at a local paper mill.

Reclaimed Powder

We use Reclaimed Pewter on the interior of all drawer bodies and some customers choose to specify it on all steel components. The unique color is created by combining multiple colors of over-sprayed powder that is generated in the powdercoating process and usually thrown into the landfill. The color of each batch varies slightly according to the mix of powders we use.